


and i call out your name

by ziaminmypants



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Bullying, M/M, Underage Sex, water phobia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-21
Updated: 2013-03-30
Packaged: 2017-11-26 07:52:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/648266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ziaminmypants/pseuds/ziaminmypants
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU- The boys are forced to attend a summer camp, where they are charged to find their inner strengths. They’ll face challenges in friendships, romances, and rivalries.</p><p>  <i>The boy's ages range from 14-16.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome to Camp Doom!

**Author's Note:**

> So this all started from a prompt for Narry and it’s escalated to this. I will reveal the prompt later, but for now it will remain a mystery to all * insert evil laugh here*
> 
> I'm working on this with my friend, Crystal xD

 “Mum, where’s my raincoat?” a thick Irish accent comes from a cluttered room. A blond can be found in a tiny bedroom with clothes thrown all over his bed.

“I left it on your computer chair, sweetie.” Niall rolls his eyes, snatching the coat up and slinging it in his bag. He’s packing to go to a summer camp that he’s being made to go to, really, what fourteen year old wants to willingly spend his summer at a camp? His parents are concerned that Niall’s not getting enough exercise and this is a perfect experience to make new friends, as least that’s the excuse his parents fed him when they told him the move.

Once he’s satisfied that he’s gotten every article of clothing he’ll need, he zips up the bag and rolls it to the head of the stairs, looking down. He sighs before running down them, not caring about the loud noises it makes when it hits each stair. “Mum, I’m ready.” He says unenthusiastically, leaning against the front door.

-

Harry eyes the first aid kit sitting next to his overnight bag. He's being ridiculous, he knows, but who's bright idea was it to sign him up for summer camp anyway? Sighing, the brunette packs the first aid kit and looks around to make sure he's got everything. "Mom!" he turns with his arms full. "I'm rea...!" He's cut off as he stumbles over his feet and into the doorway, knocking him on his ass.

A demur brunette sedately comes to help the young boy up, use to Harry being more on the ground than on his feet. She dusts her son's bum off before helping him pick his things up. "Alright dear, let’s get you in the car before you break something." She smiles at him and kisses his temple to take the bite out of her words.

-

Clothes fly out of a messy closet, some making it to the bed, but most joining their brethren on the floor. "Let's go to camp, he says. We'll have fun he says!" A dark hared boy scrubs a hand through his once-styled hair. Huffing, he grabs some clothes and folds them quickly, still grumbling as he goes.

Liam carries his bags to the familiar doorstep of his next door neighbors he’s known for fourteen years. He rings the doorbell and waits. A nine year old Saafa answers the door, greeting him with a hug and lets him in. They spend a minute on small talk about their summer so far before she points upstairs, “He’s upstairs, cursing your name as we speak.” Liam laughs, shaking his head.

Leaving his bags on the floor near the door, he runs upstairs and opens the door to Zayn’s room. “How’s the packing going?” he asks, he eyes the pile of clothing on the floor before making his way to Zayn’s bed, plopping down on it without another word.

Eyeing his boyfriend in distaste, he throws the folded jeans onto the brunette's chest. "I'm being forcibly shanghaied, how do you think it's going?" He packs his folded shirts and other essentials, before heading to his bathroom for the toiletries. Coming out he asks, "How did I let you talk me into this again?"

Shrugging, Liam throws the jeans into the pile of clothes in Zayn’s bag. “I could just go by myself.” He looks up at the raven-haired boy. He’s really not betting on going alone, just an empty threat, but he can’t see why Zayn can’t be just a little enthused in spending a whole summer away from their parents with him.

Freezing for just a moment, Zayn drops the bag of toiletries and climbs on the bed to lie next to Liam. "No" he says softly, hand settling onto the brunette's chest. "I'm coming with you." The room gets quiet enough to hear the buzzing coming from the overhead fan.

A smile plays on Liam’s lips, as he pulls Zayn over for a kiss. “I’d never go anywhere without you love.” He kisses Zayn once more before pulling away slightly. “But you do have to finish packing before you can go with me.”

Groaning, the older boy rolls over to bury his head in his pillows. "Can’t you pack for me? I totally trust you!"

There's a knock from outside the door and Zayn's mother calls into the room. "Liam! Zayn! You only have a few minutes left before we have to go. And Liam, I've already got your things into the car." Silence again falls as they hear her walk away.

Liam throws a pillow at the back of Zayn’s head before getting up and grabbing the boy’s bag of toiletries and throwing him in the suitcase. He makes a mental list of what Zayn’s already put in the bag, and walks around the room, grabbing things he thinks Zayn might need, including his sketch pad and pencils, Liam’s favorite shirt, and an extra pair of sneakers. “Want me to pack your swimmers too?” Liam’s eyebrow arches.

Zayn gives Liam a horrified look. "Don't even play like that!" He throws a pillow at the other boy, laughing even as he side-steps it. Getting up with a sigh, he helps Liam finish the bag before zipping it and hefting it up. "Ok warden, I think I'm ready."

Shaking his head once more, Liam leans in to get a quick kiss before opening the door for Zayn. “Damn straight, I’ll whip you into shape this summer boy!” he giggles at his antics before following Zayn down the stairs and out the door to the car.

-

Louis sits in a chair in his room, reading over his I-pad when his father barges in. "Pack!" he tells the boy in a gruff voice, arms folded against his chest. "You're going to summer camp and you have 30 minutes to pack."

His son's left eye twitches. "I'm doing _what_ now?"

The father gives his son a hard look. "You heard me. It was this or military school." He turns to go, looking back at Louis only once to repeat "30 minutes!"

Louis blows out a breath, looking down at his I-pad with distaste. "And he couldn't have told me BEFORE I made plans?" Standing and stretching, he goes to his door, leaning out and calling "Mum? Where's my Louis Vuitton bags?"

He heads to his closet, contemplating what to take while he waits for his mum. He gathers up his choices and is placing them on the bed when his mum comes in with the requested luggage.

“Hey sweetie,” Jay sits Louis’ empty luggage bag atop of his bed, unzipping them to help her son pack. “I also made you some snacks to bring along with you. They’re in the kitchen love.” She says sweetly as she moves to fold Louis’ clothes into the bags.

Louis pauses in his movements, listening to his mother's soft voice. He doesn't look up as he asks "How'd you get him to agree to summer camp over military school?" Fingers twist themselves into the hem of the boy's shirt, until he forces himself to stop.

She’s silent for a moment, finishing up folding his clothes into neat piles in his bag. He moves to kiss Louis on the forehead. “You’re father loves you very much, he’s just...unable to handle certain things. But I will not stand to see you sent to military school, I simply cannot bear the thought to of you going off without me to look after.” A hand caresses Louis’ face and she leans over and softly kisses his forehead again. “You’re my baby boy. Just think of this as a learning experience and I’ll be here when you return. Please try to have a little fun love.”

Closing his eyes against the sting of tears, Louis leans into his mother's body, resting his head on her shoulder. "I know. And I'll try to have...fun." He pulls back and with his normal smirk in place, packs the bag and hefts it to the front door. "Mother darling, I shall return to you as soon as this dreadfulness is over." Holding his head high and leaving like a man off to war, he hands his bag to the driver, climbing into the car and not looking back.

+

Niall leans against the bus as he waits as for the other boys to grab their things and the camp officials to call roll and assign them housing for the summer. He chews on a candy bar as he looks around to the swell of boys around the luggage area. He’s already resolved that he’s not getting into that big ass lake that he can see from here.

Tugging Zayn along, both boys have managed to get their luggage without getting an eye taken out or missing a limb. Liam pulls them to the side, close to the counselors so they can hear them when roll call starts. Zayn leans heavily against his boyfriend. "Liam" he whines, "There's bugs! And it's hot!" Wrapping his arms around the younger boy, he pouts, sticking his tongue out at a counselor who is staring at them.

Swatting Zayn’s heat away, Liam turns to the boy he’s hopelessly in love with. “Zayn, dear, relax. The bugs aren’t out to get you. And it _is_ hot, stop leaning on me, you’re making it hotter.” He winces when he realizes he’s being a little hard. He knows Zayn’s not one to do outdoorsy things. “Come on, we’re about to find out where we’re bunking at and then we can explore.” Liam sounding more excited than Zayn probably ever will be with this.

Making sure to be close, but not overheat the younger boy, Zayn nods. "Ok, I can do this." He's still nodding. "You packed my bug-spray so it won’t get too bad." Startled by a thought, Zayn turns to Liam alarmed. "You DID pack my bug spray. didn't you?"

Liam nods vigorously at the boy. “And if I didn’t, I made sure I had some in my bag. Love, just relax. You’re going to have more fun than you realize, I promise.”

Harry's almost made it out the door with his stuff when there's a jostling behind him. One minute he's headed down the bus stairs, the next he's face-down on the ground, air leaving his lungs in a whoosh. There's laughter around him at the sight, but he can't hear it over the ringing in his ears.

A hand helps pull him up. Niall doesn’t say a word as he pulls the boy, who is taller than he thought, up with both hands, his candy bar dangling from his mouth. Once he’s positive that the boy can stand on his own, he lets go.

Wiping the dirt from his now-embarrassed face, Harry looks to the boy who helped him. "Thanks." He twitches and looks around at his stuff now splayed everywhere. He quickly begins to pick everything up, ignoring the fits of laughter.

Niall shakes his head, ignoring the other’s laughter as well and bends over to help the boy with his things. “No problem.” He hands the items to the curly mop of hair and takes a bite out of his candy bar. “Don’t worry about them; they’ll have something else to occupy their time in another ten minutes or so.”

Still blushing Harry pushes his curly fringe away from his scratched and dirtied face. "God I hope so." Juggling his things a bit he holds out a hand. "I'm Harry."

Wiping his chocolaty hand on his jeans, Niall smiles and gives his hand to shake. “Niall,” he offers his name, but nothing else. He pulls back and happily munches on his candy bar once again.

Louis watches the camp roll into view, stepping out when the car stops. He pushes his aviators up his nose while he waits for the driver to collect his bags from the trunk. "Thank you James, have a safe trip home." He gathers his things and moves closer to the other milling about. Sighing, he drops his bags when he reaches the counselors, looking around at everyone. "Peasants."

A skinny, tanned boy with blond curly hair speaks up over the crowd of boys shortly after everyone has their bags. “Alright boys, settle down. I just want to say welcome on behalf of the faculty and staff here and Camp Beaumont. My name is Shane and I’m the head counselor here, so if you have any questions, you can ask me or the counselor that’s assigned to your bunks. Let’s get roll call over with and we’ll assign you to your housing.”

Roll call goes quick and fairly easy, each boy moving off to find their assigned counselor. Zayn sighs and grabs his and most of Liam's things, following the brunettes back.

Liam picks up what Zayn can’t and heads to the counselor in which Shane pointed to when they called out their names. It also helps he’s got a bright lime green shirt on that has ‘bunk 5’ taped onto it.

Harry takes a tripping step forward, accidentally stopping his fall by bumping into Niall. Flushing, he apologizes. Motioning for Harry to go ahead of him, Niall moves to grab his things from where they were before he helped Harry up and follows the boy to their group.

Grabbing up his bags and following the herd, Louis cuts right through the crowd to get to his assigned counselor, ignoring any angry muttering.

A boy with fiery red hair and freckles bustles by, reaching the counselor first. He sets his stuff down and glares moodily at the other boys. "Losers" he harrumphs quietly, searching the crowd for faces he already knows.

Waiting patiently for his assigned team, Jude rocks on his heels. It doesn’t take long for the group to gather. His blue eyes scan the group, smiling. “Hello recruits! My name is Jude and I’ll be your counselor for the rest of your stay. Your bunk is number five, so let me show you the way, I know you guys are anxious to get out there and see what kind of activities we have in store for you.!” He smiles, leading the group to a cabin a little way down the dirt path.

He unlocks the cabin and lets the six boys file in. He lifts the curly-haired boy up and helps gather his stuff when the boy trips over the threshold. “Whoa, careful there!” he smiles, heading inside behind the boy. “Alright, unpack and I’ll see you all outside in ten minutes for the daily schedule and list of activities you can sign up for.” Jude gives them all a bright smile and heads out the door, leaning against the railing to wait on the boys.

Louis does not stop himself from watching Jude's ass as he leaves the room, smiling in appreciation. He plops his things at the end of the last bunk, sitting down and not bothering to unpack much. About the time he settles down, there's a throat being cleared. Looking up at the red head in front of him he tilts his sunglasses down, staring at him over the tops. "Can I help you?"

The other boy frowns at Louis actions. "Yeah, that’s my bunk. Move." He glares at the seated boy.

Louis huffs a small laugh, looking around. "Oh really? I had no idea that they had our names on them. Wait, no, they don't." He slips his aviators back up his nose and settles further on to the bunk. "Guess your top bunk then, bitch."

Face turning an alarming shade of red, the angry boy steps to Louis, reaching for him.

Niall’s the one to come to Louis rescue. “Leave him alone, he got to the bunk before you, he’s got it fair and square.” He’s already gotten his bags on the bottom bunk of one of the sets of beds across from theirs.

Zayn trails along behind the blond, worried that a fight will break out. "Yeah, let's just all calm down now. There are plenty of other open beds to choose from."

Liam’s not far behind Zayn, a hand on his arm as he watches the interactions between the other boys. “Zayn.” He says to his lover low, as a warning not to get into it. Zayn seems to ignore the warning however, not wanting to watch some kid get a beat down.

The red head just snorts and storms out of the bunk. Louis takes his sunglasses off with a delicate flick of his wrist. "Well that went well." He stands and brushes off imaginary dirt from his jeans, turning to look at the two boys. "Thank you for your intervention."

Harry doesn't bother to get too close to the argument, fearful he'd just cause a mess. Worried though, he does step closer to the brunette next to him.

Niall nods to the boy and goes back to his bunk, quietly unpacking what he can in the next ten minutes. Liam shakes his head and pulls Zayn to the last full bunk that’s empty, unzipping a compartment to get out Zayn’s bug spray. “Here love.” He smiles at him, “Put some on and let’s go see what Jude needs to tell us.”

Harry fidgets at the foot of Niall's bunk, having already thrown his things on the top bunk. "Is it ok if I sleep on the top here?" He hates having to meet new people, always worried about making a horrible first impression.

“Yeah, it’s cool.” He says, not bothering to look up until he’s got another candy bar in his mouth. He pulls is out and smiles, “Want one?” he asks, offering Harry another candy bar from his stash.

The brunette looks surprised, but nods, shyly reaching for the bar. He smiles at the blond as Louis walks past them to meet with Jude.

Jude smiles at Louis as he shifts his weight from leg to leg. “Louis, right?” he guesses, but he already knows because the camp has pictures of the boys due to the application their parents sent in.

Looking at the counselor, the boy smiles. "Yes, it's Louis."

“Great! Get everything situated?” he smiles, glancing over at the red head who stormed out of the cabin minutes earlier, then back at Louis.

Raising a brow the brunette follows Jude's eyes to the red head. "I'm sure everything will sort itself out." His smirk is anything but friendly towards the other boy.

Taking a bite out of his candy bar, Harry looks to the blond. "Wanna head out?"

Niall nods his head, stashing his candy bar into his bag before heading outside to where all the waiting boys are.

Once all six boys are there, Jude moves to get a good eye of all of them. “Alright, Zayn, Liam, Niall, Louis, and Rhys, I gather you need to be introduced to one another, so take a minute or two to do so.” He waits for the boys to do so, and once he’s satisfied that the boys know each other’s names at least, he continues.

“There is a breakfast, lunch, and dinner schedule posted just on the inside of the door just above the light. I won’t patronize you by reading it to you, but remember if you get there late, you won’t be fed. Also, there are a list of activates that you can sign up for and others you don’t. Archery, fencing, and other sports such as that are all activities that you have to sign up for. Harry, I don’t think I recommend those for you. Swimming, painting, and all the art classes are free to join at any time. I encourage you all to try new and different things while you’re here at Camp Beaumont. If you have any questions about anything, you can address me or Shane the head director here, we’re here to help.”

He gives all the boys a smile. “You have to be in the cabin by 9pm, no exceptions. We do nightly checks and surprise cabin checks throughout the night. Someone of staff is always around if you come across an issue. Other than that, have fun!”

Blinking, Harry finishes off his chocolate and nods in agreement with Jude; anything with the potential to be lethal he'll be staying away from thank you very much. He turns to Niall. "You signing up for anything in particular?"

Niall shrugs at him, “Wasn’t planning on it. I’d rather stay inside.”

Laughing at the blond's remark, Harry shakes his head. "It's not so bad." He grins at Niall, knowing he'll somehow coax the Irishman out of their bunk.

Shaking his head, Niall walks back into the cabin with Harry. “I get burnt really crispy if I’m outside all day. I’m Irish, it’s in the blood. I don’t do water, so swimming it out and I’d just rather eat candy bars and play a few chords on my guitar than hang out with most of the boys here.”

The younger boy follows Niall inside. "Would you mind walking around with me sometimes? I totally burn too so I made sure to bring my strongest sunscreen." He sends a blinding smile to his new friend.

“Sure, if you don’t mind hanging around me. Typically, I’m called the loser in a camp like this.” He pulls out his candy bar and starts back nibbling on it as he sits down on his bunk. “Err, I was going to ask you, do you wanna switch to the bottom bunk? I notice you’re a bit on the clumsy side on the way here.”

Harry flushes pink, looking down at his feet as he steps nervously from side to side. "Well, um...no, it's alright. I packed a first aid kit and all..." he trails off, embarrassed of his clumsy demeanor in front of his new friend.

Niall laughs, “You packed a first aid kit? Guess you’re used to it, eh?” he smiles. “Alright then, but if you get fall off the bunk tonight, don’t say I didn’t offer.” He finishes his candy bar and throws the empty wrapper in the waste bin beside the bunk.

-

Zayn huffs about the curfew, mumbling "You won’t patronize us by reading to us, but treat us like toddlers with a curfew like 9 pm?"

Liam elbows him and smiles at Jude, before tugging Zayn back into the cabin. “Come on, lets see if they give swimming lessons here.”

Upon hearing the words 'swimming lessons' Zayn digs his heels in like a child. "Oh HELL NO!" He realizes Liam is probably just pulling his leg, but there are occasions he can't tell. "Have you SEEN that lake? There are DEAD things in there! And neither you nor ME are going anywhere NEAR it!"

Chuckling, Liam pulls Zayn close. “Just pulling your leg love, wanna go see what their art classes are like? I know you’ll enjoy that.” He offers instead, hand finding Zayn’s to intertwine their fingers together.

Zayn smiles sweetly at his boyfriend, bringing their joined hands to his lips for a quick kiss. "Now THAT sounds more like it."

Liam smiles, and tugs his lover out the cabin, only stopping briefly to ask Jude where the art classes are held, before heading in the right direction hand in hand with Zayn beside him.

-

Louis watches Jude's lips as he speaks, liking the way his lips part in between words. Licking his own lips, he looks around at the other boys. If he doesn't make a friend of some kind then his stay here is going to be very dull indeed. Louis waits around outside, still keeping an eye on Rhys as the other boy glares in his direction. He snorts delicately and turns his head, wondering if he should go make nice with the other boys.

“Shouldn’t you be getting to know you’re other bunkmates by now?” Jude interjects, smiling at him. “After all, you are going to be spending a lot of time with them.”

Sighing at the truthful words, Louis nods and ignores Rhys altogether. As he's going in, though, his stomach turns a bit to see that the others have already paired off. Blowing out a puff of air, he promptly turns on his heel. Maybe he'll just find something interesting to sign up for.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry see's a bit of Niall, while Louis tries to get inside someone's pants the first day. Liam and Zayn are in their own little world, as always.

Zayn eyes Liam as they get to the art building. He's planning on using him for a model at some point. "How do you feel about modeling in the nude?"

Barely looking at Zayn, Liam fiddles with the hem of his shirt as he walks with him to the entrance of the building. It’s more like a big warehouse, sectioned to the different styles of art Liam realizes when the boys step foot in there, Zayn’s own little piece of heaven. “I really don’t think I’m nude model material.”

Ignoring the offerings in front of him, the older boy grasps Liam's hands. Smiling, he pecks his boyfriend on the lips. "You are so beautiful, love. It hurts that you don't know how beautiful you are." Tugging the other boy closer and rapping his arms around him Zayn continues their trek deeper into the art zone.

Liam’s head is constantly moving, taking in everything and mental writing down a list of things he’s going to get Zayn to do while they’re here. He’ll even try out a few if it means staying close to his lover. “See anything you want to do?”

The older boy eyes the charcoal and large sketch pads on one side of the room, turning to the brunette and licking his lips. "It could get a bit messy."

“That’s never stopped you before.” He chuckles, pushing him in the direction of the charcoals.

Smiling happily, Zayn grips onto his lovers hand, his excitement brimming.

+

Harry digs around in his bag, making sure to store the first aid kit with in Niall's trunk, front and center; he makes a triumphant noise when he finds his sunscreen.

Turning to the blond munching on a candy bar, he holds the sunscreen out with a smile. "How about a walk around to see if there's anything fun?"

Smiling, Niall takes the sunscreen. “Yeah, sounds good. That way I won’t have to tell me mum that I didn’t participate in the activities the camp she forced me to go to. That will make her happy.” He deadpans, as he opens the tube and realizes that he can’t see his face to put it on. “Mind helping me?” he asks.

The brunet steps over, taking the sunscreen from him to pour some into his hand before handing it back. "Close your eyes."

Concentrating hard, so to avoid an accident, Harry makes sure to cover all of the Irishman's face, neck, and ears. "Do you want me to get your back in case you take your shirt off?" Harry is definitely fighting a blush at the thought of Niall without a shirt.

“I don’t think I’ll take my shirt off.” He assures Harry, “Thanks anyways.” Smiling as he moves to take the sunscreen and return the favor. Once he’s satisfied that Harry’s face, neck, and ears are covered he pulls away. “Anywhere else?”

Shaking his head heartily the brunette replied "I'm definitely not taking my shirt off." Thinking to himself that no one should have to put up with THAT. Harry takes back the sunscreen, fumbling to get it back in his bag. Sighing with irritation at his clumsiness he turns to Niall. "Ready?"

Niall gives him an affirmative nod before heading out the door, walking slowly until both boys fall in step with one another. “So, what activities are you interested in?”

Tripping over his feet, Harry uses Niall as leverage to straighten himself out. "Um, anything that won't kill me?" He looks around; trying to find a list of activities they could look at. "What about you?"

Snatching a pamphlet when the two pass by a service station, Niall thumbs through the list of activities the camp provides. Shrugging, he hands over the paper to Harry. “I’m not sure if any of that won’t get you killed, maybe finger painting?” he suggests, with a small chuckle.

Chuckling at Niall's suggestion, Harry plucks the pamphlet from the blond's hands, somehow managing a paper cut. He scowls and pops the finger in his mouth, glaring at the offending page. Flicking through it himself his shoulders sag. "I suppose you’re right, though I'd probably manage to hurt myself with the paint."

“Yeah, probably poke yourself in the eye or something. That doesn’t mean you can’t try them, I’m sure there will be counselors everywhere so you can’t do too much damage to yourself without someone noticing.” Niall shrugs, looking over at the boy.

The brunette tucks the pamphlet into his back pocket and playfully punches Niall's shoulder. They walk on, passing activities and excited boys. They're half-way round the camp when the lake comes into view.

Niall tenses at the sight, fidgeting a bit by playing with the hem of his shirt. He doesn’t warn Harry when he stops in his tracks, unable to go any further. His blue eyes scan over the seemingly calm water; before he turns on his heel, mutter about forgetting something in the cabin, and quickly walking in the direction he came.

Harry stops and trips backwards to get to the retreating blond. "Oomph!" Scrambling up he jogs to catch up. "Niall, what's wrong?"

“F-fine.” He stutters out, unable to meet Harry’s eye as he powerwalks back to the cabin. “You go on without me, I forgot something. I’ll catch up with you later.”

Shaking his head, the younger boy heads on with the fearful Irishman. He has an inkling on why they're headed the opposite direction of the lake, but isn't about to bring it up. "That's fine, I'm pretty sure I'm burning by now and I wouldn't mind the shade of the bunk." He gives Niall a big, and hopefully reassuring, smile.

Niall is grateful that Harry doesn’t pry, he’s not used to sharing things with people, and never really talked about his problem with water with anyone but his therapist. He musters up a smile to give him as he slows his pace the farther they get away from the lake.

+

Louis walks through the camp, head held high and aviators on. He doesn't stop, doesn't bother to chat with any of the passing people. Sighing, he pauses to look at the activity rosters, hoping to find SOMETHING of interest.

“Might I recommend the football? I hear you’re a natural player.” A voice comes from the side of Louis. Jude smiles at the boy as he nods to the list of activities. “If you don’t feel like getting sweaty, you could always watch a game or two, cheer on your fellow campers.”

Hand removing his sunglasses, the young man looks to his counselor. "I sometimes enjoy getting sweaty, it all depends on the activity." He gives a sly smile. "And football is lovely, but only when you play with those who know what they're doing." He runs fingers through his fringes, pushing them back only to have them fall back in place.

Ignoring Louis’ quip, Jude just smiles. “I think you’ll find that you’re among other players here. I myself play a little.”

Raising a brow, the brunette looked Jude up and down, knowing that he'll somehow get this man to play at some point. "That a fact? Will you be playing soon?" Louis steps aside so that a group of boys can look over the sheet, thus placing himself much closer to the dark haired man.

“Strictly speaking, counselors aren’t allowed to play with the boys. They’ve had some problem with roughness in the past, it’s a liability. So no, I won’t be playing football with campers.” Jude explains, smiling at the group of boys who is now looking over the activities. “But if you’re interested in the activity, I can walk you there; I was heading over there to couch a game anyways.”

Blowing out a breath, Louis replaces his aviators and straitens up. "Lead the way, maybe there will be something interesting on the way."

Jude nods, keeping a steady pace to the football field, his cleats swaying in his hand by the shoe strings as he walks. “Are you having fun so far here? Meet any interesting people?” he tries to start a conversation with Louis, knowing that he’s not been very sociable.

Ducking his head, the younger man looks away. "Not really" he says honestly. "I've never really done anything like this." He flaps a hand at the general area of the camp. "My father didn't tell me I was going till 30 minutes before I had to leave." He gives Jude a flat smile, eyes still blocked by his sunglasses.

“Well, I think you’ll have fun if you let yourself. I used to hate coming to camp when I was your age. My parents shipped me off during the summer because they didn’t know how to handle me. It’ll get better, I promise.”

Louis looks away, eyeing all the other groups of boys, laughing and enjoying each other's company. His face slips to a sad look before he pulls it back into a snarky smirk. "I'm expecting a good show, you know." He turns to stare at the counselor. "Do you guys ever play without the campers?"

Jude stops at a bench to put his cleats on. “Uh, yeah, some of the counselors do play a game or two when we have down time.”

Smirking, the brunette glances over the other's bum before replying "Well you'll have to tell me when so I can at least watch a good game." He places his hands on his hips loosely. "Cheer the team on and all that."

“Most of the time it’s after curfew though or during your eating breaks. But maybe you can catch a game.” He smiles, and stands up. “So you playing or want to sit this one out?”

"Sitting out, I suppose. I wasn't exactly warned about this trip so I'm ill prepared for a game." He frowns and it's obvious he does want to play. "Number 3's not wearing his guards correctly, and number 18 looks like he's going to have an asthma attack before the game's even started." Louis can feel himself sorting over each boy, as though plotting each strength and weakness.

Jude scans over the boys and looks back over to Louis. “Care to help me keep an eye on them? You can help me couch slash referee.” He offers, before heading over to the boy in the number 3 to tell him about his guards, and to make sure number 18 was okay. Jude ends up benching the guy, noticing just how anxious and nervous he is, he doesn’t need to call an ambulance on the first day.

Louis places his aviators with Jude's things and follows him onto the field. "This should be interesting" he mutters to himself.

+

Concentrating hard, Zayn is in his 'zone'. He sketches lightly at first, and then adding detail and shading, trying to capture his loves look just right. There's charcoal smeared across one cheek, gone unnoticed by the artist.

Liam sits patiently still, or at least as patient and as still as he can. He feels like he’s been sitting here for hours. “Babe, how much longer?” he all but whines.

Laughing out right at the impatient tone of Liam's voice, the older boy makes a few last lines across the page before turning it to show. "What do you think?"

Scrunching up his nose, Liam shakes his head. “You’re a wonderful artist Zayn, but I’ll never understand why you pick me as a subject. You make me look twenty times better than real life.” He gets up from his stool, walking over slowly to where Zayn is sitting. “You have charcoal on your cheek, love.” He smiles, giggling a little. “Good thing I find it highly attractive.”

Zayn grabs the brunette around the waist, pulling him closer and managing to get charcoal on him as well. "I only draw what I see, babe. Remember that." He kisses Liam long and slow, ignoring the catcalls around them.

Liam can feel his cheeks heat up, but all is lost as he melts into the kiss. His hands reach up to hold Zayn’s face as he kisses him, running his fingers through his hair before slowly pulling away to look at his boyfriend. “Mmm…I think you’re just a little bias.” Liam smiles, blush still evident in his cheeks.

Cupping Liam's face in both hands the dark haired boy runs his stained thumbs over blushing cheeks. "Not biased" he smiles. "Just in love." Standing with a grin, Zayn takes the brunette's hand in his. "How about we find something for you to do now?"

+

Niall throws his bag on the foot of his bed as he plops down with yet another candy bar in his hand. He eats when he gets anxious or is in an unfamiliar situation. Seeing that big lake just minutes ago would send anyone like Niall into an anxious fit.

Fumbling around with nervous energy, Harry gives the blond some space, but doesn't travel too far. "You ok?" His worry for his new friend shows on his face.

"Yeah, just... I hate water." he laughs nervously, wrapping up the half-eaten candy bar and shoving it back into his bag.

The brunette settles down on the bed near Niall. "That's...not good? I mean," he blushes, tangling his words. "Are you going to be ok here?"

Niall finally looks up at Harry, “I guess I’ll be okay, as long as they don’t force me to go near the lake or swimming, I can manage.” He nods affirmatively, trying to give him some sort of reassurance.

Harry nods as well. "I'm pretty sure they can't make you do anything that makes you uncomfortable. I'll make sure you stay dry," he flashes a smile. "Promise." Scooting a bit closer he asks, "Can I have a bite of chocolate? My mum usually won’t let me NEAR the stuff."

Nodding, Niall pulls out a chocolate bar and hand it to Harry. He’s got plenty, making sure he stocked up on the good food before he was shipped here. His parents would freak, however, if they realized he wasn’t really doing anything at the camp but eating. It was one of the reasons why they sent him to the camp to begin with. “Did your parents send you here as well?”

Shifting to sit Indian-style on the bed, the younger boy nodded. "My mum thought it would...help? With my general accidentally trying to kill myself?" He grinned around the chocolate. "She also thought it'd help me make friends." Scrunching his nose, he turns his head. "No one really wants to be friends with the clumsiest in the lot."

“I don’t mind that.” Niall smiles at the boy, “Makes things more interesting. Rather be the clumsiest than the freak who doesn’t like to be around water.”

Smacking his friend on the arm, Harry frowned at his friend. "Having a fear of water doesn't make you a freak. It just means you have a legitimate reason to stay on dry land!" Huffing and turning his back to Niall, the brunette leans on the other boy, munching on the remainders of his chocolate bar with force. "You're you and if it's ok for me to be clumsy then you can hate water" he mumbles.

“That’s not how other kids think though.” He mumbles, trying to push Harry off of him playfully. “Come on sasquatch! You’ll squish me!” he laughs, poking at Harry’s sides to get him to stop leaning on him.

The poke made the boy jump and let out a shrill laugh. He slapped hands over his mouth, looking wide-eyed at the blond, but it was too late.

Niall laughs, moving in a better position to poke the younger boy. One hand tries to keep Harry close to him, while the other pokes him in the side at various places, all trying to get him to laugh like that again. All the while, Niall is laughing.

Harry's squirming, trying to get away from the blond's nimble fingers, all the while laughing loudly and pleading for him to stop. He finally squirms so much he lands in Niall's lap; unfortunately, they were both near the edge of the bed and with the younger boy's flailing, they're sent careening over it.

Blinking, Niall bursts into laughter as he tries and fails to get up. Harry’s on top of him and he’s not budging. “Oi! Don’t make me tickle you more!” he jeers, poking Harry’s side of good measure. His blue eyes meet Harry’s and he smiles. “Clumsy and ticklish; not sure if that’s a good or bad combination.”

Another squealing laugh is let loose as the brunette scrambles to get up, clumsily making it to his feet. Aided by the bed; he reaches a hand down to help Niall up. "I think" he huffs out another giggle, cheeks stained pink from all the laughing, "That would depend on how dangerous the situation was." He gives a big grin, pulling the blond up the rest of the way.

Taking Harry’s hand, he helps Harry pull him up and smiles as he sits down, his own pale face painted red from exertion. “Hopefully you’re not getting yourself in extreme tickle fight then, might be the death of you.” Niall giggles, sitting down on the bed.

"Well then, I guess I'd go out with a laugh at least." Harry flops down on the bed, wiggling his head onto the Irishman's lap. "Geeze! Now my side's hurt." He pouts at his friend.

Niall laughs again, “You big baby.” He looks down at Harry, “Barely poked you.”

His response is a poked out tongue around a grin. The younger boy settles more, relaxing. "What do you wanna do now?"

“Sleep.” Niall admits, “Sleep until we can go home.” He absentmindedly runs his fingers through the messy curls as he talks.

Humming, the brunette relaxes further, eyes closing at the petting. "Mmm...You keep that up and I WILL sleep." He chuckles but keeps his eyes closed. Snuggling closer to the blond, Harry works some fingers into the hem of Niall's shirt, smelling chocolate and sweat.

Chuckling softly, Niall continues running his fingers through Harry’s hair, brushing it to the side away from his eyes then back again. He freezes though when he feels Harry’s hand at his shirt. He hesitates to continue playing with Harry’s hair for a moment, contemplating throwing Harry off his lap and making an excuse to find some real food. But it feels nice, so much better than home where _no one_ wants to touch him.

Making a whining noise at the pause in stroking, the younger boy snuffles sleepily and asks "N'al?"

“Mmm?” Niall hums softly, as he moves his finger to brush his through Harry’s hair once again, finger ghosting over skin of the boy’s neck once his fingers reach the ends. He repeats the action, lost in his own thoughts and doesn’t realize he’s leaning more into Harry’s touch.

A sleepy little snore answers. Body laxed in sleep, Harry's fingers are still tangled in Niall hem.

Once Niall hears the snores, he shakes his head, “Hey, let’s go get something to eat, I’m starving.” He says, shaking Harry’s should to wake him.

Startling awake, Harry nearly rolls off the bed again. "Wha?!" He rights himself, with Niall's help, and sits up. "Sorry! I just...with the hair...and the stuff..." he trails off, face beet red with embarrassment. Worrying his bottom lip between his teeth, Harry fiddles with his shirt, wanting to cry.

Chuckling, Niall gets up, grasping Harry’s hand and tugging him out of the cabin. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Now, let’s get some grub.” He smiles, only letting go of Harry’s hand when they’ve walked a couple of paces away from the cabin.

Still jittery and embarassed, Harry follows obligingly. "Um...where's the food hall again?" He looks around, not seeing it right off the bat. Not looking where he's going and about to say something to Niall, the brunette runs right into another boy. Harry trips and tumbles to the ground.

"Hey moron!" Comes a harsh voice above him. "Why aren’t you watching where you're going?" The voice belongs to an older boy: tall, well built, and probably handsome if the sneer didn't mar his features.

Niall helps Harry up, not bothering to pay attention to the guys words. He’s used to being around creeps like this; his school had a ton of them. “Come on Harry.” He murmurs to the lad as he helps dust him off a bit.

The harsh voice comes again, closer. "What's a matter losers, can't talk?" He smirks at his group over his shoulder. Rhys's is smirking along with others, but the red-head was the only one the younger boy recognized. Harry stands closer to Niall, ready to go.

He recognizes Rhys in the group, their other bunk mate. “I can talk,” Niall equips, “I’d just rather not talk to someone that can’t greet someone without insulting them.” He draws closer to Harry though as he says this.

The other boy sneers. "Aw, two little fags make a cute couple don't they?"

Harry flinches, and takes a step back, inadvertently getting Niall to step back too. The boy's about to say something else when a random counselor jogs over. "There a problem Jackson?"

So the boy had a name obnoxious enough to match his personality. Jackson eyed the two roughly before slapping a fake smile and turning to the counselor. "No, there’s no problem here. Just meeting some new...friends."

Staying quiet, Niall looks down, using the toe of his converse drag against the dirt path. He moves, pulling Harry in the direction of the mess hall, the opposite direction in which Jackson and his cronies are. “That’s one more person on my ‘stay clear of’ list.” He mumbles.

Nodding, the brunette just walks closer, head down. "Sorry I didn't see him coming." He eyes the older boy out of the corner of his eyes. "At this rate I'll be voting to stay in the bunk for the remainder of the summer." Biting his lip, he doesn't know how to apologize to his friend for getting him called a fag. He frowns, hating that word.

“Yeah, who knows, I might have enough chocolate for us to live off of for a day or two.” He chuckles, looking over at Harry. “Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you or anything did he?”

Blushing, he turns his head from Niall. "Nothing but my pride man." Harry shakes his head. "I can't believe we've managed to make enemies before lunch." He gives his friend a small smile. "It'll be mutiny at the rate we're going."

“I’m not too worried about it, there’s nothing much he can say at this point that will shock me. This is why I tend to spend my time indoors and away from people. I’m just sorry that he had to bring you into it.” He gives Harry an apologetic smile, and opens the door for him when they get to the building which had a weathered looking sign hanging with ‘Mess Hall’ etched roughly in it and painted with black letters.

Pausing for a moment, Harry lets out a startled laugh, turning to Niall. "I'm sure I've seen this in a horror movie before!" His eyes gleam as he grins at his friend. "Sure we'll make it out of here alive?"

“Let’s hope so, if not, we’ll just have to run faster than Jackson, or trip him. Either way, we’ll get out of here. You might need to start now so you’ll have a fighting chance.” He laughs, heading to the line to get food. “I hope their food is good, I’d hate to be here the whole summer with crappy food.”

Harry laughs at Niall antics, standing with him in line to grab some food that hopefully is worth all the trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> follow me on [tumblr ](http://ziaminmypants.tumblr.com)  
> character asks are [here](http://thecharacterasks.tumblr.com)


	3. what's wrong?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somethings up with Niall, and Louis has eyes for someone.

Louis jogs along the field, watching the players, and giving help where he can. He wished he'd packed his gear as he pushes sweaty bangs out of his face once again. Looking over at Jude, he pauses a moment to watch as the older boy shows a few tips to a small group an excited grin on his damp face.

Sweat makes the jersey Jude’s wearing cling to his figure. His body is defined, but not like some of the athletes that most people are familiar with. While Jude is active, he only plays football for fun, it’s a great people to learn teamwork, and he loves helping the kids grasp different concepts of the game. He glances over at Louis while he’s talking to a group of people that’s been struggling all game to just get the ball up the field. Jude grins at Louis as he puts his attention back into the conversation he’s having with the kids.

“Alright, so next game try and use some of these strategies and I’m sure you’ll get a goal.” He glances down at his watch, “But for now, take a break and grab some lunch, we’ll pick up another game afterwards.” He smiles brightly at the boys as he break up into smaller group and heads to the where the camp offers lunch.

Finding himself trailing after Jude, Louis wonders to himself what he's doing. Shaking his head, he nudges the councilor’s arm with his own. "You play well." He rakes fingers through sweat-heavy fringe, grimacing at the feel.

“Yeah?” Jude gives Louis a bright smile, “Can’t wait to see how you play.” He hesitates on the edge of the field, waiting for the last of the players to leave before continuing walking. “Heading to lunch?” he asks, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Ugh...I think I wanna shower first." As soon as the words leave his lips though, his stomach gurgles angrily. Laughing and blushing, the brunette wraps his arms around his middle. "Or I could eat lunch first." Thoughtfully adding, "And I'd love to play if you have an extra set of gear?"

“I’m sure the camp does. We can see what they have in your size.” Jude stops in front of the doors of the mess hall. “Welp, I’ll see you after lunch. I hear its spaghetti, should be good.” He smiles once again and heads off to the showers.

Louis watches him go until he's out of sight. Sighing mournfully he eyes the bustling mess hall. Now all he has to do is find someone to sit with. Frowning with narrowed eyes, he moves out of the way and scans over the room.

-

Zayn's laughing at something Liam said when it hits: a loud gurgle of pain and hunger. His eyes widen and look to his boyfriend. "Uh...hungry?"

Laughing, Liam nods, taking Zayn’s hand and tugging him to the eating area. “Come on love.” Once the couple gets there, Liam notices one of the bunkmates scanning the room. “Hey,” Liam looks back at Zayn, nodding to the figure. They both walk to the boy, “Louis, right?” Liam asks, unsure if he was remembering the boy’s name right. “Wanna join us for lunch?”

A look of relief flashes across his face. "Yes, please. And forgive the appearance and...smell, I was playing a game of football." He waves a hand at himself before waving a line in front of himself. "After you?" Trailing them in, he asks. "It's Liam and Zayn, yes? Are you enjoying it so far?"

“Yeah, I think Zayn has this infatuation with a male model in the art building.” He chuckles, poking Zayn in the ribs playfully before winking at him. “How about you?” Liam asks, looking back at Louis as they get in line for the food.

"I like the football, but haven't really seen much else." Louis shrugs, feeling out of depth. "Is this your first time at a summer camp?"

Liam nods, “Yeah,” grabbing a tray from the stack and sliding it down the line as he picks up two plates, one for him and one for Zayn. “Is this your first time? At a summer camp I mean?” blush runs up Liam’s cheeks at the expression, fumbling with the cans of soda he picks up and places hurriedly on the tray.

Chuckling at Liam's fumbling he nods. "I've never even thought of going to a camp of any kind." He shrugs. "I got signed up without knowledge or permission so I'm hoping to survive." Giving the others a shy grin, he follows their motions with food and drink. Now they have to find a table. Looking towards the corner, Louis notices two familiar heads. "Are those two also in our bunk?" He asks, nodding his head in their direction.

Looking over, Liam beams, “Yeah, let’s go see if they want some company.” He smiles, handling the tray as all three of the boys walk over. “Hey,” Liam greets them, “Mind if we sit with you guys?”

Harry blinks up at the three before looking to Niall to confirm. "Sure. You're our bunkmates...uh." It's plane to see he's forgotten their names. Zayn sets between Harry and Liam, Louis setting next to Niall. "I'm Zayn." He smiles. "And this is Liam and Louis" he follows with a point."

Niall smiles at them all, moving a bit to allow Louis to sit with him. “Niall.” He nods at them before shoveling a spoonful of spaghetti in his mouth. Liam smiles at all of them taking his plate of the tray and sliding the tray in front of Zayn.

"Harry." The brunette follows Niall in introductions, feeling better about being in a group, especially after seeing Rhys staring at them from the other side of the room. He eyeballs the red-head, but doesn't bother to say anything to the group. "So anyone found anything fun to do yet?"

Blue eyes meet Harrys, before Niall puts all his attention back into his food. Liam nods, “Yeah, “ he smiles before nibbling on a piece of garlic bread and offers the rest to Zayn, it’s not really his thing. “They’ve got a really good building for art if you’re interested. Zayn and I did some paintball too.” He beams at Zayn before taking a bite of his food.

Nodding in agreement, Louis shreds most of his bread, mixing it in with his spaghetti. "They've got athletic fields, great for football." He stirs the mess some more before chopping at is with his knife. Harry can't look away.

"And" the older boy continues, "They have a big lake for swimming, but I wouldn't recommend it, it looks quite unsanitary." He takes a big bite of food, being careful not to get any on himself. Zayn shudders at the mention of water. "No thank you" he says adamantly.

Chuckling a bit, Liam rubs his finger over Zayn’s cheek. “No one’s going to make you go swimming.” He says brightly. Niall freezes at this, his body growing completely still, he’s even stopped eating. He doesn’t look at Harry for fear he’ll tell everyone about his freak out early.

Zayn chuckles and leans into the touch. "Swimming's for losers anyway." He nods sagely.

Harry glances at Niall, noticing his frozen state; he touches his knee under the table, squeezing reassuringly. Louis notices nothing as he stuffs his face with his strange concoction of food.

Niall jerks a bit at the feeling of someone’s hand on his knee, but when he looks up at Harry, he relaxes considerable, giving him a thankful expression. “I second that Zayn.” Niall finally pipes up.

Surprised, Zayn fists a hand and holds it out to Niall for a bump. "All right! No-Swimming buddy!"

Letting out a small chuckle, Niall bumps his fist with Zayn, melting back in his sit and trying to fade back into the background of the rest of the boy’s conversation. “So what are you guys planning on doing after lunch?” Liam asks, curiously, finishing up his food.

Louis is the first to answer, after patting his mouth with the napkin from his lap. "There's a pickup game of football if anyone's interested."

Blinking, Harry looks to Niall. "We could watch? From a shaded area, I mean."

Niall looks at Louis curiously before shaking his head and looking over at Harry. “Erm, actually I wouldn’t mind playing. You can stick close to me if you want? I’ll make sure you don’t have to do anything.” He smiles. Liam looks over at Zayn, having a silent conversation just between the two of them without speaking a word.

Nodding enthusiastically at Liam, Zayn intones "We'd totally love to play too!" He throws an arm around his boyfriend, pulling him closer. "Don't let the pretty face fool you, he's great out on the field" he winks to the others.

Harry laughs at Zayn's antics. "I'm not that great, but I could probably learn from Niall."

Shaking his head, Liam blushes before agreeing. “Yeah, I play for the school team back home.” He admits. Niall doesn’t say anything, just shoves his plate to the side, because he _was_ on his school team, but that was before the bullying and the lost pleasure in the game.

Just as it’s about fifteen minutes before lunch is stopped serving, Jude walks into the building, grabbing a salad and an apple and goes to join his fellow counselors at the table in the corner.

Louis zeros in on Jude's figure, the easy way he holds himself. A small smile slips to his face.

Harry gives Niall a concerned look. "You ok?" he asks when the others are momentarily preoccupied.

Niall just nods at Harry, getting up. “Yeah, I’m fine. Gotta go to the loo, catch up with you guys later.” He gives Harry a small smile before leaving.

Liam’s too busy cleaning off the spaghetti from Zayn’s mouth to realize Niall’s stressful nature. “I swear, you get messier and messier each time you eat.” He giggles, leaning in to kiss him when he’s got the sauce out of the corner of his mouth. Liam doesn’t mean to ignore the others, but sometimes Zayn and him get in their own little world.

Jude senses someone watching him as his face glances around the room, eyes landing on Louis. He gives him a flash of a smile before biting down on his apple and turning to respond to one the jokes Allen, a first year counselor, has been telling.

Shaking his head, Louis then notices Niall's departure. He can see Harry's worry. "Everything ok?"

Harry shrugs and plays with his silverware. "I dunno" he says softly. "He said he had to go to the loo and that he'd catch up with us later."

By this time, Zayn's heard the younger boy and turns his head to follow the blond's progress. He gives a worried look to his other half.

Louis nods at Harry and pushes his chair out, standing to collect everyone's finished trays and trash. "That's alright" he tells the younger boy, "We can wait for him here." Smiling down, he runs a hand through curly hair, petting the boy before heading off to the trash bins.

Liam’s eyebrow furrow as he shows concern for his fellow bunkmate. He squeezes Zayn’s hand for reassurance, as he nervously plays with the tap on his soda can.

After putting the trays where they belong, Louis makes a detour to the bathrooms to check on his new friend. He goes in and leans on the one of the sinks as he waits.

Liam notices Louis state. “Everything alright, Louis?” he asks, nudging Zayn in the side.

Taking a deep breath, Louis shakes out his shoulders, body still thrumming with tension. "Niall wasn't in the bathroom. We need to find him." Short and to the point, Louis does not want to start freaking out if he can help it. He pushes his attachment issues to the back of his mind.

Harry sits up at this. "What?" He scrambles out of his chair and Zayn's the only thing that saves him from face-planting.

“What do you _mean_ ‘Niall wasn’t in the bathroom’?” Liam asks, concern written all over his face. “Do you think he’s hurt?”

Shaking his head, Louis puts his hands up. "I don't know. I just want to find him to make sure. We should split off into groups." He does a quick scan around the food hall, making sure he just didn't miss him. "Why don't Harry and I go one way and you two go another. We'll meet at the field in 20 regardless." Placing both hands on the table and leaning down, he looks to each boy. "If we haven’t found him by then, we'll get the counselor’s involved."

Liam nods, waiting for Zayn to get up before heading out the building. “Maybe we should check the cabin? Maybe he went back there?”

Zayn nods and grabs Liam's hand. "We'll check there first." Louis nods as he keeps an eye on the uncoordinated Harry.

After they separate, Louis pats the younger boy on the shoulder. "Don't worry; I'm sure we'll find him." They look everywhere on their way to the field, neither boy seeing their missing blond.

Liam and Zayn head to the field after their twenty minutes, without the blond. Liam looks defeated and now really worried that they can’t find Niall. He shares with the other two that Niall wasn’t at the cabin nor anywhere near it.

Niall leans against the wall of the building, taking in a deep breath before taking out a candy bar and wrapping it, taking a bite. He just needs some air. Today has been a lot to take in. First he comes to a camp he really doesn’t want to be at, which as a big ass lake that he doesn’t want to have anything to do with, then Rhys and Jackson causing problems with him and Harry just like he has at school. This was why Niall hardly befriended anyone, he kept to himself mostly.

He sighs, knowing he should meet up with the guys, since he kind of ditched them, but he couldn’t exactly tell them the truth -that he’d rather be alone. Harry’s been really good to him so far and he’d hate to mess that up, but he’s not particular good at making friends. If he was, he’d have some.

After a few moments, he heads towards where he knows the field is, knowing that the guys had planned on going there after lunch to play a game of football. He stops by the cabin to grab his cleats that his mother packed him, before heading over to the field, looking for his bunkmates.

Harry's the first to see the familiar blond head bobbing through the mass of other boys. Standing with a cry he takes off, unconsciously graceful as he races to his friend, nearly tackling him to the ground. The others follow along at a more sedate pace, happy that Niall looks unharmed.

Niall grunts as he’s tackled to the ground, unsure of what’s happening until he sees the unmistakable mop of hair. “Chill Harry, just went to get my cleats.” Liam knows differently, but doesn’t say anything, just shares a look with Zayn.

Zayn huffs and, with Louis's help, pulls the two boys up. Harry looks worse for wear, eyes reddened and hands shaky. "Louis said he couldn't find you." He didn't sound accusing, just uncertain.

“Oh, we must have missed one another then.” He shrugs, patting Harry on the shoulder when they’re upright. “So who’s ready for the game?” Niall asks, looking around at the boys.

Louis eyes the Irishman before bending down to collect the fallen gear. "I'll have to run down to the service station to see if they have anything in my size." He hands the cleats back to Niall with a look. "Why don't you guys start without me."

Zayn brushes the dirt off the backs of Harry and Niall. "Ok, I'm going to run back to our bounk for our own gear" he says, looking to Liam.

“I’ll go with you.” Liam states, following Zayn to their bunk to get their gear.

Still looking lost and shaky, Harry murmurs that he's going to find a good spot to sit and watch them from.

Niall follows him, feeling a little guilty about before. “Hey, wanna go see if the camp has ice cream after this? Maybe we can even find a place that has board games or something, nice and safe for you to play.”

Nodding, the young brunette leans closer to Niall. "I was afraid that asshat had gotten ahold of you" he admits in a soft voice. He tugs Niall to a shaded section of bleachers for them to sit. "You definitely owe me ice cream after that!" There's a small grin on his face; not a lot, but it's something.

Looking back at Harry sheepishly, he gives him an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, I promise to make it up to you.” He smiles then, grabbing Harry hand and squeezing it fondly. After a moment, he realizes what he’s doing and retracts it. “Err, sorry.” He fumbles a bit, almost falling down the bleachers. “See you after the game.” He mumbles before heading on the field, his cleats forgotten beside Harry.

Shaking his head with a startled laugh, Harry grabs the cleats and trips down the bleachers to get his friend. "Umph!" He stands up, rubbing his bum. "You forgot your cleats" he says with a grin.

-

Louis waits impatiently for a response after requesting gear in his size. Sighing to himself he resolves to get his mother to ship his gear out to him, not impressed with what's being offered to him at all.

-

Tackling his brunette love onto their bed, Zayn kisses and tickles the other boy, laughing. "Is it just me or is that Niall kid lookin' lonely?" he ponders after a bit. He knows they should be collecting their own gear and getting back to the field, but he can't help snuggling closer to Liam.

Giggling, Liam nuzzles his face against the crook of Zayn’s neck. Liam sighs, hot breathe cascading over Zayn’s olive skin. “Yeah, he does. I’m worried about him. Harry seems attached to him as well. I hope things work out.” He frowns at his words, grasping Zayn tightly as if he fears that whatever is happening to Niall is going to hurt Zayn as well.

Chuckling, the darker boy winds his arms tighter around his love. "I'm sure things will work out." Sighing, Zayn drops one last kiss on Liam's temple before rolling out of bed and collecting their things.

Liam whines a little at the loss of contact, frowning a bit as he sits up on the bed watching his boyfriend. He’s acting almost like a little kid whose not getting they’re way. “Are you glad that you’re here with me?” Liam grows serious, picking at the duvet nervously.

Turning around with a confused face, Zayn drops their things at the end of the bed, crawling back over to the brunette. "Of course I'm glad I'm here." He flops over a top Liam, pinning him to the bed. "What's wrong?"

Blinking up at him, “I dunno,” Liam shrugs, then avoids eye contact all together as he drops his head, his shirt seemingly more interesting. “You just didn’t seem like you wanted to go. I practically had to drag you here. I want to make sure…I wasn’t being pushy.” His voice is almost a whisper now, worrying his lip a bit as he waits.

Kissing the younger boy soothingly across his brow and lips, Zayn holds Liam closer to him. "I know I was being whiny in the beginning, you know how I hate change sometimes. I'm happy to be here and glad we can spend this time together." Getting a sly grin on his face he looks the other boy in the eye. "But you've always been pushy" he says, making a kissy face. "My little pushy pusher.” He attacks Liam's face with his lips, doling out wet kisses.

Liam’s brow unfurrows as Zayn kisses it, and his facial features seem to relax at Zayn’s touch. He’s about so say something when Zayn teases him. He gives him a mock hurt expression as he tries pushing Zayn away from him. “Well, if that’s how you really feel…” he says, trying to slip away from Zayn’s grasp.

Laughing a fake and evil laugh, Zayn rolls them over and pins Liam under him. "You're mine now! Mwahahahahaha! And there's nothing you can do about it!" He blows a raspberry first on the pinned boy's neck, then lifting his shirt for one on his stomach. Now giggling, the older boy kisses across Liam's jaw. "Tell me you love me and will never leave me." There's laughter in his eyes, but his tone has a faint tone of seriousness.

“Never!” Liam laughs, Zayn knows he’s ticklish on his stomach, he tries pushing the boy away, but in his fit of laughter, his strength is gone. He finally snakes to push Zayn away, crawling on top of the boy before he peppers kisses all over his face. He stills for a moment, looking into Zayn’s eyes. “I love you and I’ll never leave you.” He confirms, sealing it by brushing his lips across Zayn’s, deepening it after a moment by tracing his tongue over the seam. “I’ll always love you.” He whispers as if they’re sharing a secret just between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> follow me on[ tumblr ](http://ziaminmypants.tumblr.com)  
> character asks can be found [ here](http://thecharacterasks.tumblr.com)


	4. It'll never work.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys play a football (soccer) game. Louis tries a hand at seducing Jude.

Louis ties up his cleats and eyes the field. Smiling evilly he heads out to the others. He’s gonna own this.

Harry waves at Zayn and Liam as he sees them walk towards the field, not noticing Louis till he’s right up on them. Jumping into Niall, the younger boy flaps a hand at Louis. “Don’t DO that!”

Niall chuckles, steadying the boy but doesn’t let his grip linger too long. He nods at both Zayn and Liam when they join the group. “So, do we pick our own teams or do they decide for us?” he looks at Louis expectedly.

Smirking, Louis throws a look to the boys across from them. “Well, we can be a team, but they have two more players than us; three if Harry’s not playing.” He passes a hand over the curly-haired boy’s arm.

Harry blinks, thinking about what Louis’s saying. “I guess I can play, but I’ll probably trip more than anything else” saying it with a shrug as if to say ‘what can you do?’

Zayn nods. “Just trip into the other players.”

“Zayn, don’t be mean.” Liam playfully pushes Zayn, but laughs all the same, seriously considering it.

“You’ll be fine.” Niall gives him a reassuring nod, as Jude jogs up to the group.

“Nice to see you in gear Louis.” He smiles, nodding towards the boy before taking in the rest of the team. “The others are two more players than you, so I’m going to volunteer to play on your team to even it out. Harry, if you wanna referee you can. I know you’re not much of a sports player.” He gives Harry a small smile.

Smiling, but wincing all the same Harry replies “If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather be in the field with Niall. I can at least trip and give them an obstacle to get around.” He laughs ruefully. No one notices the faint blush on the blonds pale cheeks.

Meanwhile, Louis taking a moment to look Jude over like a piece of something he wants to just eat. Moving his gaze to Harry fondly. “I agree with Niall. I think there’s more to you than you know” he says, remembering the graceful way Harry ran to tackle Niall earlier.

Harry nods a bit sheepishly.

Bumping his boyfriend with his hip, Zayn says loudly “You ready for this?”

Louis, Jude, and Liam all reply “Ready!”

Looking at his silent members, Zayn offers them a big smile and tries again. “You ready for this?”

Harry says it with them, only quieter than the others. He looks at Niall’s silence, the boy looks like he’s in deep thought. He moves t jostle him with a shoulder, enjoying being close to the other boy. Louis gives them a strategy before they break up to head to their respective sections. As the other players make their way onto the field, Harry and Niall can see that it’s Jackson and his posse. Rhys seems to be gearing up to go head to head with Louis.

Gulping nervously, the young brunette looks to his blond friend. “Uh, here comes trouble again?”

Niall watches Rhys, shaking his head. He kind of wishes he was in Louis position so he could punch Rhys in the face, but thankfully he’s stuck the farther out with Harry. Niall looks around to see whose goalie for their team. As he sees that no one is there, he turns to look at Harry. “Hey, your job is to trip and catch the ball from anyone who tries to kick a goal into that net, okay? I’m going to be protecting you.” Niall says, nodding towards the goal.

Biting his lip with uncertainty, Harry nods and jogs over, only tripping once. Louis looks around to make sure everyone’s in position before leaning over. There’s the sound of a shrill whistle, and the game is on.

Louis is going head to head with Rhys, body’s clashing for the ball. He feels a painful tug on his fingers and stumbles. Rhys takes his chance and gets the ball. Seething, Louis goes after him.

Zayn and Liam work in tandem to block off the other players that the red-head could possibly pass to. Jude surprises the boy from behind, making a legal trip and getting the ball. He quickly passes it to Liam.

Liam dodges left and right, passing to Zayn when he gets to crowded. Zayn makes it all the way to the end field before Jackson shoves into him for the ball. The darker boy goes down hard.

Gasping, Liam running to see if Zayn is okay, he helps him up, and glares at Jackson. Well that’s one guy he won’t feel too bad about beating in this game.

Watching Zayn go down makes Louis mad. Giving Jackson a frosty smile, he does a quick stretch, nodding to Jude. The counselor takes his cue and runs. Louis waits until Rhys, who’s guarding Jackson, gets closer before running him into the ground. Not expecting it, the red-head falls into Jackson, tripping him up and giving Louis a chance. The older boy takes the opening and gets the ball to the far end of the field, scoring a goal. A cheer goes up among his team. Rhys glowers at them.

The game pretty much goes as such, Louis, Jude, Liam, and Zayn all managing to hold off the other team and make goals. Things are going great until one opponent manages to make it to their far end. Harry stumbles as the boy gets closer. He hopes that he can stop this ball; he doesn’t want to let Niall down.

Niall’s there, trying to protect the goal as much as possible, he’s doesn’t want Harry to be upset that he put him in a powerful position and ended up failing him. Niall tries stealing the ball, but is shoved at the last minute. Looking up from where he fell, Niall swears he sees the smirk on Jackson’s face. Shaking his head, he hits the ground with a closed fist before pushing himself up off the ground, hoping Harry can manage to block the goal that they are sure to attempt.

Seeing Niall go down makes Harry’s breathe shudder. He freezes wide-eyed as the player gets closer and closer. He can faintly hear his own teammate’s calls of encouragement. Eyes on Niall, he waits till he sees him nod before moving again. Chanting the mantra ‘I can do this’ over and over in his head, he prepares himself. He starts with a slight jog and then a run, leaping at the ball as it’s kicked. One breath; three; six. His hands connect and knock the ball away. He slides across the ground, expression just as stunned as his opponent.

Not wasting any time, Niall runs to tackle Harry back on the ground, cheering. Something between laughter and admiration. “I KNEW you could do it!!” he exclaims, mesmerized, pulling Harry to his feet into a breathtaking hug.

Hugging back just as tightly, Harry murmurs a “Thank you” into Niall’s ear before they’re joined by the others, laughing and hugging together. There’s a shrill whistle, signaling the end of the game. A crow of “We won!” rings out into the air.

Laughing, hand on Jude’s shoulder, Louis takes in his new mates. “Thanks for the help.” This he directs at the counselor.

Jude nods to Louis, laughing, “Enjoy the company of your new friends. Go celebrate!” he encourages, picking up the ball and twirling on is finger. “Catch you later.” He smiles, turning to walk towards the other team, who don’t look to happy.

“All right boys!” Louis claps his hands to draw the others’ attention. “Nicely played” he says with a gleeful smirk. “Now let’s hit the shower and decide how we wanna celebrate!”

Everyone but Niall agrees, taking a shower for him is very traumatizing time, one he’d rather be alone for. He gives them all as much zest as he can, but quickly falls behind as they head to the showers.

Looking around, Harry trails behind until Niall catches up with him. He stops there forward motion with a hand on the blond’s arm. “Um. Are you ok with this? ‘Cause I’m sure I can distract the others for you if you need.” He’s trying not to pry or demean his friend, but he’s certainly fumbling for the right words.

“I’m fine, just a little sore, why don’t you guys go ahead? I’ll take my shower a little later.” He offers, chewing on his bottom lip.

Harry stares into his friend’s eyes, seeming to understand what the blond wasn’t saying. He nods once, giving Niall a quick hug. “Don’t worry, I got your back.” Running off to distract the others, he gives a backward glance and smile to the Irishman.

Quickly showering, Harry gets out and tells the others to head to the mess hall for ice cream. He assures them that he and Niall will be along shortly. After making sure they’ve gone, Harry quickly makes his way back to his friend to wait for him.

It takes Niall a while to work up the courage to even remotely get near the spray of water, even then he just uses the cloth he was given to hold underneath the spray to get it wet enough to use. Although, it is much harder, he does manage to wash his hair. When most people take about twenty minutes in the shower, it takes Niall closer to an hour. Which is why he’s surprised to see Harry waiting for him when he’s done. ”Hey,” he gives Harry a puzzled look, eyes wandering around to see if any of the other boys are there. “Where’s the others? Thought I was going to meet up with you guys afterwards?”

Shrugging, the younger boy holds out half the candy bar he was munching on. “I told the others we’d be in the mess hall later for ice cream.” He gives Niall a smile and doesn’t comment on how long the blond was in there.

Nodding, Niall dries his damp hair with the towel and heads back to the cabin to dispose of his sweaty clothes. He doesn’t say anything to Harry as he does this; weary of just how long Harry had waited for him. “You did great out there today. I think you’ve found your calling.” He smiles at the boy as he throws his clothes in a bag.

Laughing at the boy’s words, Harry bounces a wrapper off the other’s head. “Yeah, falling with intention.” He gets up and taps his foot. “Come on, slowpoke! I want ice cream!” His grin a mile wide, Harry grabs Niall’s wrist to tug him along. “I bet the others have already stolen all the good ones!” he bemoans.

Niall walks, or more like is dragged to the mess hall where they meet up with the group. Everyone is buzzing about their win against Jackson and Rhys. Niall quickly falls into the banter, but stays quiet for the most part, eating his chocolate ice cream that he managed to grab before someone else claimed it.

Muttering about lack of flavors, Harry chases melting strawberry around the cone. “I liked the look on Jackson’s face when Niall not only stole the ball, but tripped him face first!”

Zayn laughs along with the brunette, having been close enough to see. “Yeah, that was a pisser for him.” Harry laughs and nudges the blond, grinning at his friend. His eyes are drawn to the Irishman’s chocolate, looking forlorn, to him anyway. The younger boy promptly leans over to give it a lick.

“Hey!” Niall chuckles “Get your own!” he scowls, but moves the cone to allow him another lick or two. “But did you see the way he looked when Harry blocked that goal? It surprised the hell out of me, but Jackson looked like he was going to melt into the ground that Harry was a better goalie then his own.” He smiles at the curly-haired boy.

Harry smirks back and gets two more licks, offering some of his own as repayment. “I don’t think I’m a better goalie, I’m just a professional at falling down.”

Chuckling, Zayn swaps ice cream with Liam. “We definitely have to go another round!” He hi-fives Harry, looking on as Louis swirls his ice cream in a bowel, mixing the toppings and broken up waffle cone before taking a big bite.

Louis nods, swallowing before speaking up. “We’ll probably get our chance the next few days. There’s supposed to be pickup games all this week.”

Liam looks over at Louis with interest. “That sounds like fun. And I’m sure that Louis could get us in since he’s sweet on our counselor.” He snickers, taking a bite out of Zayn’s cone. Niall’s too busy trying to eat his melting ice cream to comment.

Louis crunches down hard on a bit of cone at Liam’s words. “Why Liam, whatever do you mean?” He bats his lashes in warning.

Snorting, Zayn looks to his love before breaking out into song. “Hey Jude! Don’t make it bad, take a sad song and make it better!”

Harry snorts and jostles Niall, knocking a bit of ice cream onto the blonde’s face. “Sorry!” he says, but doesn’t look apologetic.

Liam joins into the Zayn’s singing as Niall wipes his face with a napkin, looking sternly at Harry before breaking into a grin. “Louis, want to see if we can get you in trouble with the counselor so they can punish you?” he chuckles, jeering at Louis.

Patting his mouth delicately with a napkin and crossing his legs at the knee, Louis turns his attention to Niall. “Would you like me to break you into little bits?” He smiles. “That would probably be more enjoyable to me.”

Niall snaps his mouth shut at this, giving Harry the rest of his ice cream. Liam shakes his head, “He’s only joking. Louis probably couldn’t hurt a fly without crying about breaking a nail.”

Rolling his eyes, but leaning over to pat the blond on the hand Louis looks into Niall’s eyes. “I will never lay a finger on you, and I will break who ever thinks about it.” He leans back to lick at his spoon. “It’s just my brand of humor, I’m sure you’ll be used to it soon.” Turning his attention to Liam, he says “And I don’t cry over broken nails, I make whatever broke them cry over it.”

Its Liam’s turn to roll his eyes and snuggles closer to Zayn, feeling a little cold after eating his ice cream. “You’re gonna have to do more than that to get Jude to notice you.” He says, intertwining fingers with Zayn.

Breathing out a long sigh, Louis puts his head in a hand, still eating a bit of ice cream every now and again. “I could probably trod around without my shirt and he wouldn’t notice.”

Harry wrinkles his nose at the thought. “Um, couldn’t you just try ASKING him if he’s interested?”

Niall agrees, though he’s not sure if he should be the voice of reasoning or not. “I’m sure there is some sort of rule where he’s not allowed to mingle with the campers. Even if he wanted to, he’s strictly not allowed to.”

Nodding in agreement, the older brunet gets back to eating his ice cream with a frown.

Zayn huffs a breath, muttering about goody goodies while he wraps an arm around Liam. “Who cares about the rules, man! Just go for it!”

Liam chuckles, “I agree, life’s too short to wait around. Love is hard to find.” He smiles, looking over at Niall and Harry. Niall’s in his own little world again, tracing patterns in the table as he listens to the other boys.

Harry is leaning sleepily against the blond. Stomach full and tired from the days game, he lolls his head onto Niall’s shoulder.

Louis smiles at the pair they make. “Then maybe I should have another shower and offer Jude to join me.” He gives a lecherous grin.

“Err, I’m not sure I would go with that approach but whatever you think is best.” Liam smiles, looking at Harry, he adds: “We should get back to the cabin shortly anyways; we’re going to be past curfew if we don’t. It also looks like we might have to carry Harry too.” Liam smiles, getting up to help Zayn, as they walk by, he taps Niall on the shoulder.

Niall looks up and the shoves Harry awake. “Let’s get you to bed eh?” he smiles, helping Harry up and he walks, supporting the tall brunet as they walk behind Liam and Zayn to the cabin.

The young brunet is not at all graceful as they trek back to their bunk; Niall is the only reason he’s not face down in the dirt. Finally, though, they all make it without incident. Harry eyes the top bunk and actually mewls at Niall.

Shaking his head, he crawls up the ladder and gets settled in the top bunk without a word, leaving the bottom bunk for Harry. “G’night” he mumbles, getting comfortable underneath the blankets.

Harry mutter’s what could have been good night or a cookie recipe before rolling up in the blond’s bedding like a burrito.

Zayn chuckles as he and Liam get ready to bed down for the night. Louis tells them they’re cute on his way out the door, a set of pajamas over one shoulder and his shower tote in hand. The cabin goes still, filled with the sound of sleepy breathing.

Louis takes his time as he walks to the showers, not spotting any of the counselors out and about. He shakes his head, feeling ridiculous about his so called plan of action. Making it to the showers without running into anyone, thankfully, the older brunet takes one more look around before heading in. He’s here now, so he might as well take a shower to help calm his nerves.

“I distinctly remember telling you that there was a curfew in effect.” Jude’s voice comes from the sink area. “You know you’re in violation of the rules, and I am supposed to report you to Shane.” He continues, stepping closer. “I also thought you took a shower after your victory earlier. Why are you here now?” Jude’s got his own towel slung over his shoulders and clean clothes on the counter behind him. He was planning on taking his own shower before he saw that one of his charges were out after curfew.

Louis raises an eyebrow, hoping to keep his face smooth of the fact that he was startled by Jude’s voice. “I’ve not been away from home much and can’t sleep” he says with semi-honesty. “I was hoping a hot shower would relax me enough to sleep so I wouldn’t keep the others awake.”

He really can’t help it as his eyes drift over Jude’s form, imagining what the older boy would look like without clothes and in the shower.

Jude sighs, running his hand through his hair. He thinks a moment before replying, “Alright, but go straight back to the cabin when you’re done. If you get stopped, tell them that you had special permission from me.” He nods, turning to get his things. “I’ll be in the cabin just above yours if you need anything else.” Jude gives him a small smile before heading out the door.

“Wait!” Louis calls after him.

Turning around, Jude takes a step or two closer. “What is it Louis?” concern etched across his face.

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Louis tells the other boy “You don’t have to leave. I was interrupting you, but don’t let me stop you.” His eyes are full of heat and uncertainty as he looks at Jude. He wants the counselor.

“I can’t be in here while there are campers in here, that’s why counselors wait until after curfew to take showers. I’ll be fine, I’ll come back once I know you’re in the cabin.” He gives him a smile and reaches to pat him on the shoulder. “You’re fine Louis, take your time and get some rest, from what I hear, you’re going to have your work cut out for you in the next game.”

Seizing his chance, Louis places a hand over the one on his shoulder. He lets his eyes smolder at the older boy before stepping closer, making his intentions obvious.

Jude’s throat seems unreasonably dry; he swallows hard as he watches Louis get closer. “Err,” he pulls his hand away. “Have a goodnight.” He squeaks before gathering his things closer to his body and walking out to his cabin. He can’t believe that he put himself in that position. Jude mental hits himself all the way back.

Banging his head on a nearby wall, Louis resolves to hogtie Jude the next time. The boy strips and heads into the showers, already half-hard. Thinking about the older counselor naked and wet gets him the rest of the way hard. Steam billows around him as he takes his time stroking himself, imagining that the hands on him are Jude’s. Running his free hand down his chest, he tweaks his nipples, dragging a moan from bitten lips. His hand jerks faster and faster as he imagines Jude’s mouth taking him down. The image of the older boy’s full mouth is burned behind his eyes as he climaxes, muffling his shout by stuffing a knuckle in his mouth. He milks his cock all he can before slumping to lean against the warmed tiles. It takes Louis a few minutes before he’s able to wash up and head back to the bunks. He should be able to sleep now.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on [tumblr ](http://ziaminmypants.tumblr.com)  
> character asks are [here](http://thecharacterasks.tumblr.com)


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